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Had an awesome time guest speaking on @lifeinscrub Had an awesome time guest speaking on @lifeinscrubspodcast ! This episode is jam-packed of all things CRNA school: ๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ“š
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
๐Ÿ’‰ My story & work experience prior to applying. 
๐Ÿ’Š What ICU experience do I need?
๐Ÿฉบ What do CRNAs really do?
๐Ÿฅ Basic admission requirements. 
๐Ÿ’‰ How to make your resume unlike ALL the others in a sea of qualified applicants.
๐Ÿ’Š Straight up advice. 
๐Ÿฉบ Study schedule & can you work while in school?
๐ŸฅMy financial story. 
๐Ÿ’‰ What did they ask me in my interview?
๐Ÿ˜ท My biggest tip for those who want to become a CRNA.
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
Iโ€™ve linked the episode in my stories & itโ€™s episode 16 on @lifeinscrubspodcast ! ๐Ÿฉบ After you listen you can ask any questions here & give me your feedback! ๐Ÿ–ค
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
#futurecrna #crnaschool #srna #srnalife #srnaproblems #srnatocrna #anesthesiaschool #anesthesiaschoolproblems #nursingschoolproblems #icunurses #icunurse #nursetobe #anesthesiaresident #anesthesialife
STUDY TIPZ ๐Ÿ“š๐Ÿ“Œ ๐Ÿ™‡๐Ÿปโ€โ™€๏ธ A common qu STUDY TIPZ ๐Ÿ“š๐Ÿ“Œ ๐Ÿ™‡๐Ÿปโ€โ™€๏ธ

A common question I get often, so hereโ€™s some of my study methods!

Probably the #1 question I get is what app I have on my iPad to take notes. 

But first the iPad sitch: 
YOU DO NOT NEED THE FANCIEST IPAD. 
I did a bunch of research and decided the base level iPad is absolutely FINE. If you are buying an iPad for school you are buying an iPad for SCHOOL. All you need is a note taking app and a few others on there, no need for fancy anything. Youโ€™re broke enough. 

I bought my iPad for about $330 and the Apple Pencil 1 (again, donโ€™t need anything fancy that costs extra ๐Ÿ’ธ). I have a lot of people ask me about this so if youโ€™re curious which one I have just comment below and I can dm you the link.

I use the app โ€œnotabilityโ€ to take notes. 
I can add the power-points to my iPad before class, and then take my own notes on them in class via my apple pencil.

Next lies my trusty whiteboard. My desk faces my whiteboard. I sit at my desk for hours every single day. I use my whiteboard in two kinds of ways, active and passive. 

When there is a suuuper difficult concept I try to draw it out. I try & put together an entire chapter/lecture/concept in one place. This is the part that takes forever. Because this is the LEARNING part. You learn as you tie everything all together in relationship with one another and once you understand that? Youโ€™ve learned the material. The next part is just maintaining and memorizing that understanding. ๐Ÿง 

There comes the passive part. I leave my big drawing up on my whiteboard for days. While I could be working on something else, my whiteboard is always in direct view and I look at it often. Eventually it becomes so familiar I can โ€œseeโ€ the entire drawing in my head as Iโ€™m taking my test. 

More to come if you guys are interested! What study tipz do you use? ๐Ÿ“
๐๐Ž๐‘๐Œ๐€๐‹ ๐‹๐€๐ ๐•๐€๐‹ ๐๐Ž๐‘๐Œ๐€๐‹ ๐‹๐€๐ ๐•๐€๐‹๐”๐„๐’ ๐Ÿงช๐Ÿ’‰๐Ÿฉธ save for reference! ๐Ÿ“ฅโฃ
Credit: @nclexrnpass 
โฃ
โฃ
โฃ
โฃ
โฃ
โฃ
โฃ
#nclexprep #nclex #nclexstudying #nclexrn #nclextips #nclexquestions #nclexprep #nursingschoolprobs #nursingschoolproblems #nursingschooltips #futurenurse #futurenurses #registerednurses #cnalife #futurecrna #srnaproblems #srnatocrna #nurseanesthesia #nursesofig #nursesareheroes #nurseshelpingnurses #nursesdoitbetter #nurseanesthesiaschool #nurseonduty #nursestudent
Celebrating spring break & one more quarter of cla Celebrating spring break & one more quarter of classroom education, then itโ€™s off to residency! ๐ŸŒด๐ŸŒด๐ŸŒด

#crnaschool #srna #icunursing #futurern #ccrn #anesthesia #crna #nursingeducation #nurseblog #nurseblogger #nursingschool #nursingstudent #futurenurse #icunurse #criticalcare #scrublife #orlife #nursesofinstagram #nursingblog #ccrn #miamibeachparties #miamibeachlife #bikinibabes #bikiniweather #beachplease
Happy Valentineโ€™s ๐Ÿ–ค I love you more than yest Happy Valentineโ€™s ๐Ÿ–ค I love you more than yesterday, but less than tomorrow ๐Ÿฅ€
Happy #CRNAWeek ! To celebrate, hereโ€™s a gift fr Happy #CRNAWeek ! To celebrate, hereโ€™s a gift from me & @dnamasks ๐Ÿ˜ท

Be one of the first to snag their new anesthesia bag collection! The winner will receive 1 tote bag, glam bag, & fanny! 

Hereโ€™s how to enter:

1. LIKE & SAVE this post!

2. FOLLOW me @sassyanesthesia & @dnamasks

3. TAG 2 people that would love these bags! 

4. For a BONUS entry, Iโ€™d love to hear your anesthesia story, where you work/what department, or are you an SRNA and where are you in your program? ๐Ÿ“š
You can also share this post to your story tagging @dnamasks - (we can only see public story entries ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ

*Ends at midnight on January 31, must be 18+ and in the US. Must complete all the above to be eligible, this is not endorsed by instagram.

#crnaweek2021 #crna #srna #srnalife #srnaproblems #nurseanesthesia #nurseanesthetist #nurseanesthesiologist #anesthesiology #nurseanesthesiology #futurecrna #srnatocrna #nurseblog #icurn #crnaweek #nurseanesthesia #crna #crnaschool #srnatocrna #nurseanesthetists
Trynaโ€™ find which way is up ๐Ÿ™ƒ With this ultra Trynaโ€™ find which way is up ๐Ÿ™ƒ With this ultrasound, and Crna School in its entirety ๐Ÿ“š Happy #CRNAWeek !

#crnaweek2021 #crna #srna #srnalife #srnaproblems #nurseanesthesia #nurseanesthetist #nurseanesthesiologist #anesthesiology #nurseanesthesiology #futurecrna #srnatocrna #nurseblog #icurn #crnaweek #nurseanesthesia #crna #crnaschool #srnatocrna #nurseanesthetists
HAPPY #CRNAWEEK ! ๐Ÿ˜ท๐Ÿฉบ๐Ÿซ Even though I am 1 HAPPY #CRNAWEEK ! ๐Ÿ˜ท๐Ÿฉบ๐Ÿซ

Even though I am 18 months away from becoming a CRNA (๐Ÿ˜ณ) I am excited for what this career holds for me! This semester has been crazy, I feel like I say that every time, but somehow it really does keep getting harder as we go ๐Ÿ˜‚

This quarter we have been doing lots of cool things in our sim lab:
-Central & arterial line placements
-Epidurals & Spinals
-Ultrasound
-High fidelity mannequin simulations

And somehow I start my clinical residency in 5 months ๐Ÿ˜ณ Iโ€™ve already gotten my first assignment that Iโ€™ll tell you guys all about really soon! Any CRNAs or SRNAs celebrating this week? ๐ŸŽ‰

#crna #crnalife #crnaschool #crnastudent #nurseanesthetists #nurseanesthesiologist #nurseanesthetist #nurseanesthesiaschool #futurecrna #srna #srnalife #srnaproblems #srnatocrna #srna @aanaphotos #anesthesialife #anesthesiology #aana
Does looking at your office count as studying
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
#crnaschool #futurecrna #srnalife #srna #srnaproblems #nurseanesthesia #nurseanesthetist #nurseanesthesiologist #nursingclinicals #anesthesia #icunurses #cvicu #cvicunurse #sassyanesthesia
For those who have been struggling with staying se For those who have been struggling with staying serious about COVID, wearing a mask, limiting gatherings, then this is for you. Iโ€™ve seen this trending, and itโ€™s to show awareness of how COVID has affected so many people. 
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
Iโ€™ve talked to lots of my coworkers, and we can all agree that itโ€™s hard for people to believe in something unless they have been affected by it. The goal of this post is to visually represent everyone that has been affected by this virus.
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
Post the hearts that relate to you:
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
โค๏ธ Lost a loved one or friend to COVID.
๐Ÿงก Know someone who has lost a loved one or friend to COVID. 
๐Ÿ’› Have taken care of a patient with COVID.
๐Ÿ’š Have personally suffered from COVID. 
๐Ÿ’™ Have a loved one or friend who has suffered from COVID.
๐Ÿ’œ Have been an essential worker on the frontlines of this pandemic.
๐Ÿค Have had a loved one, friend, or personally lost a job due to COVID. 
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
Hereโ€™s mine: ๐Ÿงก๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’™๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿค
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
Whatโ€™s yours? Comment below and share, or repost to see how your followers have been impacted too. ๐Ÿ’•
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
#frontliners #frontliners #nurseonduty #crnaschool #srna #srnalife #anesthesiaschool #nurseanesthesia #nursingschoolprobs #wearfigs #awesomehumans #frontlineheroes #frontlines #frontlineworker #essentialworker #covidicu #nursesofig #nursesareheroes

Sassy Anesthesia

Nursing

10 Things You MUST Know Before Nursing School

February 16, 2018February 24, 2018

Whether you’ve been accepted into nursing school or are thinking about nursing as a career, nursing school usually places most students in a shock state pretty quickly. I knew I wanted to work in the medical field throughout high school and had heard nursing school was pretty intense. You have no idea how difficult – until reality smacks you in the face and you have your first meltdown day one. Completely normal I might add.

Here’s what you should know before you start your journey to placing that RN after your name.

1. You will have no life. Let’s just start with the truth. Your life will 100% revolve around everything that is nursing school. Whether it’s studying for nursing school, crying about nursing school, failing a test in nursing school, not sleeping in nursing school, going to clinical (in nursing school), and maybe actually enjoying nursing school. Your days are packed with classes. Even more so if you’re taking other gen-eds. Then after class you’re studying or doing your write-up for clinicals the next day. Relationships will be challenged, your social life will decline. Accept this and you’ll be okay.

2. Study groups can help or hurt you.ย Some study groups are awesome. If you stay engaged and focused, you can learn a lot from other people. Stuff that you maybe zoned out on in class or missed reading yourself. Make sure you demonstrate some contribution to the group. You don’t want people to think you’re mooching off their notes/knowledge. Other groups can encourage distraction and negative talk. If you find yourself in one of these groups, slip away and start studying yourself. You’re just wasting precious time and sleep hours.

3. Suck up to your professors.ย You need these people on your side. Whether it’s for clinical assignments, your grade on a paper, or writing you a letter of rec. Some of them might even work part time in a hospital you’re interested in.

4.ย Get organized.ย You will have so many things going on at once, your organizational skills have to be top notch. Get yourself a nice planner, colored pens/highlighters. Try your best to schedule in some down time. Whether it’s going out to dinner with friends or having a hobby, you really do need the balance during these stressful years.

5.ย Be okay with a bad grade.ย High school may have been easy for you, but nursing school is a whole separate world. You WILL get a bad grade and you WILL be okay. Use it to motivate you to do better next time. Your GPA really doesn’t matter as much in nursing school. As long as you pass your classes, you’ll most likely have a job after school. Hospitals are more interested in your experience and extracurricular involvement than GPA.

Nursing school books and laptop

6. You will be up early and stay up late. All the time.ย Classes and clinical start early. Like 5am clinical early. Sleep when you can, and fill yourself up with nutrition. Know the time when sleep is more helpful than studying more. There were nights where I knew I wouldn’t retain anything past 2am and times where I had enough energy to study more. Listen to your body.

7. Get a job in the hospital.ย If you can handle a job throughout nursing school, I highly recommend working or volunteering on a unit you’re interested in. This is for a number of reasons. First, you get to know the staff/management and they can see your work ethic. Second, nursing school barely brushes on your clinical skills. You really do learn mostly everything on the job, so this gives you a head start on learning the nurse’s role, as well as the coordination of care between the interdisciplinary team. And third, some hospitals only hire internal applicants, so this would already put you in the hospital system. The hospital I work at now has started to only hire internal applicants.

8.Build your resume throughout school.ย Volunteer, join clubs, etc. Hospitals want students that go above and beyond the basic requirements to graduate. You can read more about how to build your resume on my blog post here.

9. There is a lot of poop. And vomit. And bile and mucus and blood. Maybe you’ll have some shmegma action? (HA look that one up). Now of course after you graduate this may vary depending on what unit you’re hired into, but during school you will have lots of experience with the above. Oh yes indeed. When an RN has a student for the day they’ll be sure to give you that “learning experience.” Nursing is not a clean job. You’ll have to be okay dealing with the bodily fluids of completeย strangers with infections, with scabies, with someone trying to punch you while you’re cleaning them up. Nursing is so rewarding sometimes.

10. Connect with everyone you meet.ย You really do get hired based off of people you know. That’s just the reality in most cases. Introduce yourself to the manager at clinical, befriend your preceptors. You never know if one of those connections will help get you a job after you graduate. As lame as this sounds, I had business cards made with basic contact info for people I wanted to stay connected with.

ย And lastly,

I hate to say this but, not everyย RN you work with in clinical is going to be nice to you. They might very obviously make you aware that they don’t like having students. This is unfortunately common and something that makes nursing school not so fun. Regardless of who you work with in clinical, just try and make the most of your hospital time. Some days the RN may let you do a lot of things hands-on, other days you may just be more of a shadow. Learn as much as you can with both scenarios, don’t be afraid to ask questions, and write down everything you don’t understand –ย so you can refer back to it when you have time to look things up. You retain so much more if you have a mental picture of a patient associated withย a diagnosis/medication.

I hope I didn’t scare you away from starting nursing school because it really is worth it in the end. I just wanted to give you a touch of realism to counteract what most people hear about being a nurse (money, working 3 days a week, being ridiculously sexy in scrubs…etc). Please, do not go into this profession for those reasons. It’s not easy work! You truly have to have the passion to care for people, the drive to work hard for long hours at a time, and the confidence to advocate for your patients and yourself when challenged.

Any questions about my nursing school experience or anything at all? Leave them below!

10 Things to know before starting nursing school

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6 comments on “10 Things You MUST Know Before Nursing School”

  1. Anonymous
    September 24, 2019 at 2:56 pm

    To be a pediatrician nurse. Do I have to go to a SPecial course or school for it?

    Reply
    • lipstickandlifesaving
      September 24, 2019 at 6:24 pm

      To be a pediatric nurse you donโ€™t need any more schooling in addition to your nursing degree, but hospitals prefer if you have lots of pediatric experience during nursing school.

      Reply
  2. elsa
    December 16, 2018 at 1:12 pm

    I just finished my first semester of the *actual* nursing program, and my first year of being an aide on a hospital floor. Working as an aide prior to nursing school has made my first semester SO much easier. I feel like I am much more comfortable and confident on the unit than my fellow nursing students; however, I can see bad habits that I developed unknowingly as an aide slipping over into my work as a nursing student. I also did not anticipate how different the two roles would be. Nursing is *so* different than aide work. I’m not sure what the point of this comment is exactly, but I just wanted to agree that working in the hospital before school is very helpful, but please be intentional about not developing bad habits!! It will make your clinical experience go so much more smoothly ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  3. Holly Harris
    February 24, 2018 at 1:40 pm

    I am currently working in an office environment and taking my prerequisites for nursing school. When I start actual nursing school, Iโ€™d theoretically like to work part time in a hospital environment to get clinical experience, but Iโ€™m not sure what kind of jobs I could do without any type of nursing license. Iโ€™d love to hear some ideas in a future post! Thanks for the blog!

    Reply
    • lipstickandlifesaving
      February 25, 2018 at 3:00 am

      Hey Holly! You could definitely be a volunteer to start. Or once youโ€™re in nursing school, that qualifies you to be a nurseโ€™s aide in most hospitals. Thatโ€™s what I would suggest doing! Good luck!

      Reply
    • Nichole Cupo
      March 1, 2019 at 2:14 pm

      Patient care assistant, Certified nurse assistant. Its a three to six week course. google in your area!

      Reply

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Hi, I'm Marissa.

I'm a first year SRNA. Here you can find some education & motivation, along with a touch of sass to keep you sane in a difficult but rewarding career path. Thank you for stopping by!
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Had an awesome time guest speaking on @lifeinscrub Had an awesome time guest speaking on @lifeinscrubspodcast ! This episode is jam-packed of all things CRNA school: ๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ“š
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
๐Ÿ’‰ My story & work experience prior to applying. 
๐Ÿ’Š What ICU experience do I need?
๐Ÿฉบ What do CRNAs really do?
๐Ÿฅ Basic admission requirements. 
๐Ÿ’‰ How to make your resume unlike ALL the others in a sea of qualified applicants.
๐Ÿ’Š Straight up advice. 
๐Ÿฉบ Study schedule & can you work while in school?
๐ŸฅMy financial story. 
๐Ÿ’‰ What did they ask me in my interview?
๐Ÿ˜ท My biggest tip for those who want to become a CRNA.
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
Iโ€™ve linked the episode in my stories & itโ€™s episode 16 on @lifeinscrubspodcast ! ๐Ÿฉบ After you listen you can ask any questions here & give me your feedback! ๐Ÿ–ค
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €โ €
#futurecrna #crnaschool #srna #srnalife #srnaproblems #srnatocrna #anesthesiaschool #anesthesiaschoolproblems #nursingschoolproblems #icunurses #icunurse #nursetobe #anesthesiaresident #anesthesialife
STUDY TIPZ ๐Ÿ“š๐Ÿ“Œ ๐Ÿ™‡๐Ÿปโ€โ™€๏ธ A common qu STUDY TIPZ ๐Ÿ“š๐Ÿ“Œ ๐Ÿ™‡๐Ÿปโ€โ™€๏ธ

A common question I get often, so hereโ€™s some of my study methods!

Probably the #1 question I get is what app I have on my iPad to take notes. 

But first the iPad sitch: 
YOU DO NOT NEED THE FANCIEST IPAD. 
I did a bunch of research and decided the base level iPad is absolutely FINE. If you are buying an iPad for school you are buying an iPad for SCHOOL. All you need is a note taking app and a few others on there, no need for fancy anything. Youโ€™re broke enough. 

I bought my iPad for about $330 and the Apple Pencil 1 (again, donโ€™t need anything fancy that costs extra ๐Ÿ’ธ). I have a lot of people ask me about this so if youโ€™re curious which one I have just comment below and I can dm you the link.

I use the app โ€œnotabilityโ€ to take notes. 
I can add the power-points to my iPad before class, and then take my own notes on them in class via my apple pencil.

Next lies my trusty whiteboard. My desk faces my whiteboard. I sit at my desk for hours every single day. I use my whiteboard in two kinds of ways, active and passive. 

When there is a suuuper difficult concept I try to draw it out. I try & put together an entire chapter/lecture/concept in one place. This is the part that takes forever. Because this is the LEARNING part. You learn as you tie everything all together in relationship with one another and once you understand that? Youโ€™ve learned the material. The next part is just maintaining and memorizing that understanding. ๐Ÿง 

There comes the passive part. I leave my big drawing up on my whiteboard for days. While I could be working on something else, my whiteboard is always in direct view and I look at it often. Eventually it becomes so familiar I can โ€œseeโ€ the entire drawing in my head as Iโ€™m taking my test. 

More to come if you guys are interested! What study tipz do you use? ๐Ÿ“
๐๐Ž๐‘๐Œ๐€๐‹ ๐‹๐€๐ ๐•๐€๐‹ ๐๐Ž๐‘๐Œ๐€๐‹ ๐‹๐€๐ ๐•๐€๐‹๐”๐„๐’ ๐Ÿงช๐Ÿ’‰๐Ÿฉธ save for reference! ๐Ÿ“ฅโฃ
Credit: @nclexrnpass 
โฃ
โฃ
โฃ
โฃ
โฃ
โฃ
โฃ
#nclexprep #nclex #nclexstudying #nclexrn #nclextips #nclexquestions #nclexprep #nursingschoolprobs #nursingschoolproblems #nursingschooltips #futurenurse #futurenurses #registerednurses #cnalife #futurecrna #srnaproblems #srnatocrna #nurseanesthesia #nursesofig #nursesareheroes #nurseshelpingnurses #nursesdoitbetter #nurseanesthesiaschool #nurseonduty #nursestudent
Celebrating spring break & one more quarter of cla Celebrating spring break & one more quarter of classroom education, then itโ€™s off to residency! ๐ŸŒด๐ŸŒด๐ŸŒด

#crnaschool #srna #icunursing #futurern #ccrn #anesthesia #crna #nursingeducation #nurseblog #nurseblogger #nursingschool #nursingstudent #futurenurse #icunurse #criticalcare #scrublife #orlife #nursesofinstagram #nursingblog #ccrn #miamibeachparties #miamibeachlife #bikinibabes #bikiniweather #beachplease
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